


Cave Phantom

by possessedflannel



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:15:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26826484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possessedflannel/pseuds/possessedflannel
Summary: Tommy's been living in the caves his whole life. Maybe it's time to change that.
Comments: 26
Kudos: 566





	1. Chapter 1

Tommy had spent his whole life in the caves.

He didn’t remember what life was like outside of them, but he was sure he’d seen it before. His memory was pretty messed up, honestly. Maybe that just cave with being a cave phantom.

It was a strange life here. He’d never met any humans- that he could remember- and his only friends nowadays were bats and spiders.

~~He did have another friend, actually, but he didn’t like to think about that anymore.~~

Life wasn’t so bad though. Tommy had plenty of fun things to do here, even if he was alone

He remembered one time he found a cavern with a huge waterfall and a bunch of strange creatures in the water. He couldn’t go there anymore though. Even if he could remember the way there he wouldn’t want to thanks to the memories.

He remembers when he used to stay in the cavern from his earliest memories, the one with all the carvings and the strange books. 

He remembers reading to someone in that cavern, and making up his own stories for them when they ran out of books. ~~He remembers reading to someone in that cavern, and making up his own stories for them when they ran out of books.~~

Even if his old favorite spots were far away now, he still had plenty to do. His new base spot had many caverns branching off from it that provided plenty of chances for exploring- one of his favorite pass-times.

He often found himself talking to no one while he explored. It filled the silence, he reasoned, but he knew he was really just lonely.

Imagine, though, how it must feel after being lonely for so long, to finally hear voices that aren’t your own.

He’d been walking down a path he’d already been down to visit a small stream he rather liked when he’d heard it.

Instinctually, he’d frozen at the new noises and crouched down behind a few of the rocks. This had saved him a couple times when he ran into some rather dangerous cave creatures.

But as soon as he heard voices, all worries about being eaten were wiped away. The last time he’d heard someone speak had to have been a few months ago- and these voices were completely different from that one.

They sounded older- and there were three of them. Three! That’s more people than Tommy even knew!

But as soon as he felt himself getting excited, he felt sudden dread creeping into him. What if they were dangerous? Some of the old books said humans didn’t like cave phantoms. What if they wanted to hunt him down for his wings or something?

But if Tommy had any plans of running away, it was too late. The footsteps that accompanied the voices were incredibly close. Tommy’s breathing hitched as he saw the three figures turn around the bend in the cave and all notice him.

Everything froze for a second.

Tommy had been right, there were three of them- three adult humans.

Wait, where they humans? Tommy noticed the shortest one had wings. Not wings like his -or like his friend’s- but still wings.

But Tommy didn’t have time to think about that. His nerves got the better of him and he quickly whipped his knife out of his bag, pointing it at the group in front of him.

The tallest one- a brunette wearing a beanie and a yellow sweater- held up his hands as soon as the knife was out.

“Whoah, whoah, kid, we aren’t here to hurt you!” He lowered his arms, but Tommy kept the knife pointed at the men. “We didn’t even know you were here, okay?”

The short one with the wings crouched down to Tommy’s level. “What are you doing here, anyways? No one is supposed to go so deep into the caves, it’s dangerous!”

Tommy was confused at that. Did they not know he was a cave phantom? Did they even know what cave phantoms are?

“Th-this is my home. And I don’t appreciate you just barging in here!” Tommy hated the way his voice shook as he spoke. That didn’t make him sound threatening at all! But the men were all looking at him in the same concerned way as before. The one with the wings spoke up again.

“Have you spent your whole life… down here?” He seemed even more concerned as he asked the question.

“Yeah. Well, I think so.” Tommy lowered the knife slightly, still keeping a firm grip on it. “What’s it matter to you, huh?”

The winged man’s eyes no longer showed concern but more of… sadness? Pity? Tommy wasn’t good at reading emotions. That was his friend’s thing. ~~That was his friend’s thing.~~

After a few moments of hesitation, the man finally responded. “Look, I understand you’ve survived here a long time, but it’s really dangerous, and I don’t want you getting hurt here with no one to help. What do you say you come back with us for the night?”

Tommy narrowed his eyes. “I’ve survived every other night, why’d this one so different?”

The pink haired man, who’d been silent until this point, spoke up. “Judging by how close to the surface we are right now, you could easily encounter some more dangerous animals if you don’t go somewhere soon. Now do you want protection from bears tonight or not?”

Tommy knew he shouldn’t trust these people. Trusting anyone was a bad idea, and letting yourself possibly get attached to people was even worse of one. 

But that part of Tommy that had been so lonely, that had forced memories into his mind to make him feel things, that had made him talk to himself to feel less alone, that part of his screamed that he should go with these people.

Tommy slowly put his knife into his bag and stood up. And as he followed the three out of the caves, he knew they couldn’t replace his old friend. But maybe they’d make the memories less painful.


	2. Chapter 2

Tommy wanted to go back to the caves.

He’d only spent a day on the surface and he already missed his old home.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like the surface. The surface was actually rather pretty, when you weren’t getting blinded.

The men were nice to him. They let him stay the night in their house and even gave him breakfast in the morning.

They lent him sunglasses since he wasn’t used to sunlight and showed him what wonders the surface held.

And as beautiful and thrilling as it was, he wanted to go back home.

It confused him, really. Why would he want to go back? There was so much. to explore out here, and there were people. Granted, he hadn’t met any other than the three men, but he saw a few wondering around. This place had everything he’d been missing. So why did his heart tell him to leave?

He knew why, but it was hard to face. Out here may be wonderful, but he knew he’d never find his friend here.

Tubbo. He’d never find Tubbo. There, he said it. He the boy with the bee wings, he missed running around the caves together. He wanted to go back, to keep up the hope that he might find him again.

Tommy hadn’t realized he was crying until he felt something wet on his hands. Yup, those were tears. God, he hated crying. The last time he’d cried had been so long ago…

Well, it was about time he let his emotions out. Tommy let all the memories he’d been suppressing return to him as he cried his heart out. He hoped no one found him here. He didn’t want their pity. 

He wasn’t sure how long he sat against the tree, crying his eyes out. But soon he noticed one of the men coming is way, so he wiped away his tears and looked up at him, hoping he wouldn’t ask.

The man- Wilbur, was it?- sat down beside him.

“So, kid, what are you planning on doing now?” Tommy stared up at the sky.

“Go back to the caves, probably.” Out of the corner of his eye, Tommy saw Wilbur frown.

“Back to the caves? But you said you liked it here.” Tommy sighed.

“I do, but I need to go back.” Tommy stopped himself from continuing. He didn’t want to share so much with this stranger so soon.

“Well, I doubt I could stop you.” Wilbur looked up at the sky like Tommy was. “Just know you can always come around here if you need to. Phil definitely enjoyed your company.”

Tommy almost smiled at that. He really had enjoyed hanging out with the men- brothers, they said they were- and he loved being able to make people smile again. 

But it would never compare to the smile of his best friend. He couldn’t stay here, not until he’d found him.

“Maybe I’ll come back one day. But I can’t stay.” Tommy stood up and dusted himself off. “Tell the others thank you for breakfast.”

Wilbur chuckled. “You already thanked them five times.” Then he frowned again. “Wait, you’re leaving now?”

“No reason not to.” Tommy waved as he picked up his bag and headed towards the entrance to the caves. 

As he wandered into the cold, familiar caverns, Tommy had a thought. He knew he wanted to return here someday, didn’t he? Well, then he’d better leave some sort of mark to find this place.

Pulling out his knife, Tommy started making marks on the cave walls. They started simple, with arrows pointing towards the exit, and the occasional “left” or “right” written underneath.

But that got boring, so as Tommy continued on, he started writing little notes.

“Don’t go this way until you found Tubbo!”

“This way to blindness!”

“Winged man ahead!”

Tommy laughed at his notes. He briefly wondered how Tubbo would react if he stumbled upon these. Maybe if Tommy was lucky, he would.

Tired from the long day, Tommy opted to simply drag his knife along the wall. He wasn’t sure where in the caves he was right now, probably a new spot. It was fine, he didn’t have anything of importance at the old base. 

As he wandered into a larger cavern, Tommy slid down to sit against the wall. He really was tired. Maybe crying drained all his energy for the day.

It was fine, he’d just nap for a few minutes at most. Surely nothing would happen to him while he slept.

Tommy was very mistaken.

Tommy stumbled as he ran down the narrow cave, hearing the growling beasts not far behind him.

How had he missed them? These cave beasts were always loud, was he that tired that he didn’t notice them?

Internally face-palming, Tommy rounded around a small corner and froze. The beasts, being as stupid as he remembered, ran down the larger bend, not even seeing the one he was in.

With a sigh of relief, Tommy looked down the cave tunnel he’d stumbled into. It got pretty large at the end, and he was sure he saw something glowing.

When he couldn’t hear the dangerous creatures from before anymore, Tommy started to approach the large end of the cavern. He gasped at the size of it once he entered- this had to be the second largest cave he’d ever discovered!

There were glowing lines in the walls- they reminded him of the caves from his earliest memories, but these glowed different colors than those did.

Tommy had down on one of the large flat rocks nearest the entrance. He gazed around the cave again, looking for familiar patterns among the glowing lines.

“That one means… cave.” Tommy said it aloud, surprising himself. He supposed it was pretty quiet in here. This made it feel a little better.

“Well, it’s kinda dumb writing cave. Obviously this is a cave!” Tommy glared at the rocks. “That one means ‘meeting’ I think.” He turned around to look at the patterns on the other side of the cavern. 

“I really should’ve paid more attention to those books,” he mumbled as he tried to understand the markings. Well, the markings couldn’t be that important. If he remembered one thing from those books, it was that only purple glowing marks really mattered.

….or maybe it was blue marks. He wasn’t sure.

Tommy yawned as he observed the cave. Well, sleeping last time was dumb, but he was pretty sure none of the cave beasts could get in here now. Plus, he was definitely going to pass out soon if he didn’t rest now.

His another yawn, Tommy lied down on the rock, moving his bag to act as a pillow.

Too much happened today. He was happy to let himself drift into unconsciousness as the memories of the day faded away.


	3. Chapter 3

Tubbo was lonely. 

It hadn’t seemed so bad for the first few days he could remember. He couldn’t even remember what companionship felt like back then. 

But then he’d found Tommy. Tommy had brought a new meaning and excitement to his life, and kept him going even on the darker days. The two spent all their time together.

So many fond memories of watching the axolotls in the lakes to climbing the glowing mushrooms to the highest of caverns. Those had been the best moments in Tubbo’s life. 

And it all got torn away so fast.

It had seemed like a regular run-in with the cave beasts. Him and Tommy were just approaching their best hiding spot when somehow they’d got separated. And that was the last time they’d seen each other.

Tubbo had searched for any familiar caves for ages, but when he finally found them, there was no sign of his friend.

Tubbo stayed there, grasping at any small shred of hope he had that Tommy would find him. But he never did.

And now, Tubbo was alone again.

Sure, he had the axolotls he’d started naming, and sure, he had the more docile cave beasts to keep him company, but nothing compared to his fellow cave phantom.

He’d briefly considered trying to get to the surface, just to find people to talk to. But he’d shut that idea down fast. He remembered what was in those books Tommy had used to read to him. Humans often didn’t like cave phantoms, and Tubbo preferred being lonely to being hunted.

But despite everything, he tried to stay optimistic. He knew Tommy wasn’t dead. Surely there still would’ve been bloodstains around the caves once he got there, right? So at least there was a chance he could find his friend.

A slim chance maybe, but better than nothing.

Tubbo noticed he’d wandered down an unfamiliar tunnel. Huh. Well, maybe he should explore a little. Better than stewing in his own thoughts, right?

As Tubbo continued down the cave, he started to hear unfamiliar noises. Some of them sounded distantly like... bats? But not quite. They were like bats, but sounded more like singing, almost. Heh, singing. Tommy liked doing that.

Pushing away his memories again, Tubbo continued down the tunnel. The noises were getting louder.

Suddenly, he saw an opening. But it didn’t look like an opening to a cave. It was like... an opening to a whole other world.

Tubbo’s breath hitched as he took it in. Was that the sky he’d read so much about? It looked so much like Tommy’s wings... those noises, had they been birds? Tubbo could have stayed there all night just taking it all in. But of course, something- or someone- had to ruin the moment.

“Hello?”

Tubbo whirled around, staring at the dark figure staring back at him.

They looked like a human. A human! Could they tell he was a cave phantom? Surely they could, his wings were huge after all.

“What are you doing out here so late? Don’t you know it’s dangerous?” Huh. Maybe they couldn’t tell. Humans weren’t used to seeing in the dark as much, right?

Well, he was sure this human would find out soon enough. May as well let him know. “I’m a cave phantom.” Okay, maybe saying it so bluntly was a bad idea. But he’d already done it, there was no going back.

The human seemed surprised. “Ah.” They thought for a moment before stepping towards Tubbo. “I’ve never met one.”

That… wasn’t what Tubbo expected. “Well, yeah, most humans never do.” Tubbo wasn’t sure what was going on. Did the books lie? He didn’t really doubt that, but it was concerning to think that the only knowledge you had of the outside world is all fake.

“I thought cave phantoms had wings?” Tubbo could hear the curiosity and excitement in the human’s voice. Well, he couldn’t really blame them. Cave phantoms were super rare, according to the books.

Tubbo spread out his bee wings, hearing a light gasp from the human.

“Is it okay if I turn on a light or something to see you better?” Tubbo shrugged, which the human seemed to talk as a yes. As a small match was struck, Tubbo was also able to see the human better.

They had brown hair, with a small silver crown resting on their head. They were also wearing a large purple cape, and had… sunglasses on? Why were they wearing sunglasses in the pitch dark? Maybe that’s why they didn’t see his wings at first.

The human was closer now, examining Tubbo’s wings and antenna.

Tubbo, feeling awkward, tried to start up a conversation.

“What’s your name?”

“Eret. Yours?”

“Tubbo. I want to say you have a nice name but I don’t have much point of reference.”

The human looked him in the eyes, confusion evident.

“Well, I only know one other name than my own is what I mean. Until now. Now I know two names other than my own.” Tubbo felt himself stumbling over his words. Had conversation always been this difficult? He remembered it being much easier with Tommy.

“Huh. Well, I guess there wouldn’t be many people in the caves…” The two stood in silence for a bit before Tubbo yawned.

“Oh! I’m sorry. Did you want to come to my house for the night? I’ve got a spare room you could take.” Tubbo nodded, too tired to protest against the offer. He quietly followed the human- Eret- back to his house. Before they stepped inside, Eret handed him a pair of sunglasses.

“I figured your eyes wouldn’t like very much light after living in the caves.” Tubbo nodded and mumbled a thank you before putting on the shades and following Eret inside.

He could worry more about Tommy tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

Tommy was tired of walking.

It hadn’t felt like an issue in the past. He could walk all day long, marveling at the wonders the caves had to offer. But he couldn’t do it anymore.

Was there a point to it? He’d just lose the nice caves anyways. He’d lose any friends he made. He may as well go to the surface and stay there.

The small bit of hope he had left was screaming at him not to go, but he continued anyways. All he needed to do was find some of his carvings on the cave walls and he’d be set. if he remembered, he’d continued them pretty far into the tunnels, so it wouldn’t be difficult.

Maybe if he made a life for himself on the surface, he could forget the pain of the caves. He could be a new man, became some legend amongst humans. Let go of his past.

He knew that wasn’t happening. Deep down he knew he’d never forget his best friend. But he kept lying to himself. It was better than facing his problems anyways.

He wondered what life would be like with Phil, Wilbur, and Techno. They seemed nice, and always seemed to like his jokes, but eventually they’d probably try to pry about his life in the caves.

Could he blame them though? If they really let him live with them, they’d probably be in the right to want to know what his life had been like before.

When they asked, would he be able to answer?

Sure, it was no problem explaining his minor amnesia, and the strange books he never questioned, but could he really tell them about Tubbo? Even thinking about the boy made him feel like crying his eyes out, and there was no way he’d live it down if he did that in front of those three.

It was fine. If they bothered him too much about it, he’d just run away. It’d be fine, he was fine.

He knew he was lying.

Tubbo was confused. 

He’d returned to the caves that morning after a nice conversation with Eret, in which he learned Eret was actually some sort of leader among humans (probably explained why he had such a large house) and Tubbo explained his search for his friend. With some coaxing from Eret, he’d decided to keep searching. But now he’d come across something he didn’t expect.

There were words on the walls. Not the strange symbols and patterns he’d come to expect to find glowing in the deeper caverns, but actual _words_. He couldn’t tell what they said- only Tommy had remembered how to read, and never got the chance to teach Tubbo- but he knew they were words.

And as he traveled the tunnels, he noticed arrows under the words. Arrows were never used in the regular cave patterns. These had to be made recently, but by who?

An answer was already there for him, but Tubbo brushed it away. Impossible. If Tommy had even been in this part of the cave, what reason would he have for making these carvings?

Unless he was trying to get Tubbo’s attention.

Tubbo picked up his pace as he followed the arrows. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but this was the biggest lead he’d ever gotten regarding where his friend may be. If he was lucky… maybe he’d finally find Tommy again.

And as the two boys turned down a bend in their tunnels, they both froze at the sight of a familiar face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made designs for Tommy and Tubbo and posted em on my tumblr @possessedflannel if y'all are interested


End file.
